Questions About My Special Interest

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Hi,

Please indulge me. I know my Special Interests can be boring to people but I'm actually trying to get some global information (questions below).

(For those of you who don't already know) my Special Interest is Common/Indian Myna Birds (Acridotheres tristis - which roughly translates to the 'Sad Grasshopper Hunter'). Here's what they look like:



Mynas are native to Asia (and other places) but have been introduced to many countries as a way of controlling pests (fail!).

My questions are:

♥ Where in the World do you live?
♥ Do you have Myna Birds where you live?
♥ Are they native or introduced?
♥ Are they common in your area?
♥ Do people in your community hate and want to kill them (like they are hell bent on doing here in Australia)?
♥ How do YOU feel about them?
♥ What do you think of them being my Special Interest? Do you think it's weird/unusual?

That's it. Indulge me

I live in Melbourne, I get them flying into my chimney on occasions.

I have a pair of Indian Mynahs that live in my yard. I enjoy watching them frolicking around the garden...

An interesting fact, apparently they aren't necessarily introduced. The majority of Indian Mynahs reached south-east Australia from Indonesia-PNG-North Queensland...flew south...

Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Not as far as I know.
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Indifferent.. there aren't any here. I do wonder why they want to kill them off in Australia, though. Are they invasive? Do they attack or threaten other bird species? Do they destroy crops or insect populations or something?
I think it's a rare/unique special interest that very few people are likely passionate about.. but entirely harmless to learn all you want about. I'm not interested in them at all to be honest - not my thing. But whatever floats your boat. I'm not trying to be rude, just honest. I'm sure others may be equally indifferent or even bored with my si's.

I just checked out the wikipedia page on them. Apparently they have been introduced to Canada - but where in Canada I don't know. It's possible we have some here but I've just never noticed. I've never heard of them or heard of them as a pest. Apparently they do attack other species and crops. They sound like a pretty badass bird that's successful at taking over territory by force.. that, I respect. But I also get why some people would want to exterminate them if they're killing off other bird species and destroying crops.

Birds are one of my special interests also. I've never seen a Myna Bird in the wild although I understand that they have been introduced to Florida. They are a good looking bird with not a great reputation, somewhat akin to the Starling, from what I read. Would still like to see one though.

I live in Ireland and we definitely do not have Indian myna birds. I do have a longstanding interest in birds and all other animals but birds are easier to observe in Ireland than mammals, insects or fish. It's quite a specific interest but if you observe the species regularly then it's quite understandable. I'm fascinated by ravens but I've only seen one twice from a distance so they are not a special interest.

A google search indicates there's a local band that assumes the name "The Mynabirds" but otherwise I'm going to say no. Or definitely not. I doubt we have the climate for them anyway, given my limited understanding of birds.

I do know they were introduced to the Melbourne Market Gardens around 1862 and later on in Queensland in 1883 but as to whether they made it here on their own, that's interesting. I'd never heard of that before.

I'm really pleased to see there's another Aussie out there that doesn't hate them.

Did you know you can teach them to talk (mimic)? They're quite good 'talkers'.

No, that's quite alright. I didn't take it as rude. I have always preferred honesty.

They are invasive BUT they're just carrying out their birdy business. They're just doing what comes naturally. It's people who brought them here. Humans had the bright idea to introduce them to our environment for our benefit and now that it's backfired, they want to kill them off. Typical human behavior! Suffer your lesson humans!

A band called "The Mynabirds"? I'll have to look them up out of interest (although, I'm sure they've got nothing to do with the real Myna Birds).

Climate wise, I've read the can do anything down to about -0.4°C (about 31°F). Heat wise, we get summer days here in Australia that'll reach over 40°C (104°F) and they seem to fair just fine but I do think they like and prefer the warmer climates.

Thank you all who have contributed to my post. This means a lot to me. I'm very interested in finding out other peoples' knowledge and opinions on Mynas.

"Hello!"

Do you know anything about how birds' vocal chords are arranged to be able to mimic these sounds or how they use this to communicate? What in their neurology allows them to mimic sounds? There is a particular clip from a David Attenborough documentary about lyre birds I used to watch. Really fascinating the sounds they can mimic and project to where it doesn't sound like it's coming from the bird. Perhaps that is the way the brain interprets it because you know a chain saw noise does not normally come from a bird so despite seeing the bird make the noise in the video, your brain is still trying to separate the noise as being from something else because the imitation is so good and because you don't expect that noise from a bird.

I too have an interest in birds, especially the courtship practices of birds of paradise. I wouldn't call it a special interest for me though. I reserve that term more for fabrics and sewing, people, ceratopsids, and mantises because these things have the power to send me through the roof (not literally; I hate this phrase, makes me cringe, sounds painful, but I use it sometimes anyway) with excitement or really pull me in.

No, but I have spent a lot of time out in the backyard and have observed some of the noises they make and when they make them, like when they take to flight, when roosting, when attacking or being attacked etc.



I was going to say, they must have big mantises where you are

I live in Germany and I have never seen a Myna.
Maybe in the zoo, but I can't remember. I'm pretty sure that there are no wild Mynas living in Central Europe.
Before I read this post, I didn't know they exist, so I don't know how I feel about them. In general, I like birds. Not so much as an obsession, although there was a time, when I was maybe 8 years old, when I was a little obsessed with European birds. And these Mynas look nice. I like the yellow spot behind their eyes.

Maybe you can help me with something.. I've noticed that, on this board, you get a status with a bird's name. Actually, I didn't recognize the names first and had to look them up on Wikipedia. But those who have written tons of posts have the status "Veteran". Does this simply stand for, well, veteran, or is there also a bird called Veteran?

Nope, we're just old. At different levels of postings, your ranking changes until you get to 500 and you become a veteran.

Live in the leafy suburbs of Washington DC, USA. In the middle of the US temperate zone. We have winter. Not Monsoons. So the natural environment here is not much like the Indian homeland of myna birds.

We don't have myna birds in the wild outdoors here. The National Zoo probably has them in captivity. When I was a kid in the Sixties Americans began to hear about myna birds in the media as pets. They were famous for being "beyond parrots" as mimics- they not only could be taught to speak words- they supposedly can outdo Rich Little in mimicking the sound of your voice. I may even have encountered one once. As a teen I worked briefly as a door-to-door salesman for something like Amway. Knocked on someone's door -no one seemed to be home, but I heard some lady's voice in another room repeat something inane thing several times. I figured it must be a caged bird-but unlike a parrot- it could also duplicate the owner's voice. So i figured WOW-that unseen pet mustve been a myna bird!

Ofcourse I am assuming that the myna birds you're talking about are the same variety as the talking ones. Maybe you're obsessed with some boring non talking variety.

We have English sparrows, and starlings, OUT THE WAZOO here in the Washington area. Both imported from Britain. The starlings were introduced a 100 years ago in New York's Central Park by a club of folks who wanted to: introduce into America all of the birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare! And in a fortnight the starlings have spread across the continent from New York. But no-we dont have wild myna birds.

What do I think of myna birds as a special interest?

Well...obviously you need to be beaten with a cane, and given shock treatment!

Only when you spend more time watching "Keeping Up with Khardashians" (like normal people) than you do reading about myna birds will you be considered "cured"!

Just kidding.